


The Dead Girls of The Slums

by Frisky_Business



Category: Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Detective Noir, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:47:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24241540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frisky_Business/pseuds/Frisky_Business
Summary: You are a detective hired by Shinra to investigate the disappearances/murders of a number of girls in the slums of Sectors 5, 6 and 7.
Relationships: Cloud Strife/Reader, Tifa Lockhart/Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart/Reader, Vincent Valentine/Reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 36





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoy it! I am having fun with this plot, and I want to continue this until completion. 
> 
> Best to you all!

Log 1

15th September 20XX

This is going to be an unedited log of my travels during this case. Ultimately because I was hired by Shinra to get to the bottom of this, I’m suspecting details will be eliminated if things took a turn for the worst. 

My name is [insert your name] and I am a private investigator. Business has gone down the drain, and now I seemingly only get called to solve crimes that are a bit too foreign for the Turks/police to handle. I suspect it is due to the fact that I am cheaper to hire than to pay for all their fancy military affiliation. With that out of the way, I am the one who fingered the criminal responsible for stealing electricity from the plate, and I have also been mentioned in the solutions of other bigger crimes around the whole of Midgar. My reputation proceeds me, but not many know what I look like. That is so I can travel inconspicuously throughout locations and receive information from the locals, without the name of Shinra being tattooed on my forehead. 

Most of the things I investigate revolve around issues that may be touchy among those who are close to the innerworkings of the company. IE, they’d rather hire an unknown professional rather than get their slick shoes dirty with implications of wrongdoing. As any other big company would do, I suspect. This one is a bit more than usual. In fact, I’ve never heard of such a grotesque case in my career. The higher ups are referring to it as the “Missing girls of the slums”, which sounds pretentious under all circumstances. 

It all started with a young woman in sector 5, named Jane Doe, an alias as I’m sure you have inferred. Everything about the case seemed /normal/, per say. Said she had been acting pretty normal up until the day of her disappearance. She was a normal girl, not from a wealthy family nor did she have any sort of special skills. She followed her schedule as routinely as she was expected, carrying out her duties of delivering the milled flour to the bakery down the block. Most people said she was a loner, rarely interacting with anyone save immediate family. The only nuances in this case was the mysterious figure that appeared to be stalking the town in the shadows about a week before her disappearance. Her family stated the following, “She started to have nightmares involving a monster who would drag her from the bed and steal her eyes….” Oddly specific. The disappearance occurred between the times of 12AM to 5AM, and when police investigated her house, there was absolutely nothing amiss. Either she had left on her own accord, or she was spirited away by some monster/kidnapper. Most locals assumed she had run off to Wall Market or some nonsense, but that wasn’t in her profile. 

The second disappearance was Karen Eliot, obviously another pseudonym, followed the exact patterns as Jane, previously mentioned. She was more socially engaged than Jane, but she had a husband and child. Locals had noted her personality was becoming less and less enthused. No remarks about the shadow monster from anyone other than the children, which should be taken with a grain of salt. All accounts from the children were disregarded save for the words eerily taken from her daughter, “She can no longer scream.”

As usual, for cases to be taken completely seriously, there must be a third. That is where I am heading today. Shinra must be spooked, seeing as they have some questionable experiments in hand. Perhaps they assume that this is their doing. Against their normal protocol, they have given me a partner to investigate with, perhaps because they believe this may be a bit more dangerous than previously thought. Upon boarding my train, my eyes were met with a /beast/, who looked like a bizarre crossbreed between a lion/wolf. It was best not to stare. 

“Are you [insert your name]?” 

Weird things happened in my profession, including talking /beasts/. I carefully walked past the creature and took my seat. “Yes, and you are?”

“I’m your /partner/ for this investigation. Shinra has sent me for your protection.”

“I see.”

His voice was odd, almost too formal. A slight accent on certain vowels that I am currently not able to place. A letter was neatly folded onto my chair, with a single heading in a familiar handwriting flowing across the margin. “Go to 7th Heaven and get info from the bartender”. And with that, I started my investigation. The ride to the 7th sector was littered with scans and passersby, each individual sporting a black Shinra uniform. The terrorist attacks on the power plants must have been weighing heavily on their minds, as it rightfully should. As a professional, I prefer to take no personal interest in politics unless the right price is determined. 

“What’s your name?”

“Red XIII,” the beast calmly replied, choosing not to speak unless spoken to. The silence was deafening. “Take the needed precautions, we are about to reach Sector 7.” 

\--------------------

As a previous sector 7 resident, the town looked more groggy than usual. It may have been because of the rain. The slums appeared more grey than usual, filling me with a bit more dread. I filed out of my train car with my suitcase close to my hip, luckily, I had remembered an umbrella. Red XIII followed behind me like a shadow, careful not to draw too much attention to our pair. The light from the clouds sat low in the horizon, indicating that the day was bound to end shortly for the workers, who would be shortly piling off the train and heading to 7th Heaven. This place was a lot grimmer than I remembered, but I felt a sickening nostalgia walking thru the alleyways. The locals fixed their gaze on me and I felt like they were judging me for moving and creating a better life for myself. Mixed insults and rude comments filtered through my ears as I quickly found the bar. I wanted to escape.

At last, I finally reached my location and walked up the stairs, the creaks sounded almost like they were also doubting their own stability. The doors were cracked open, and I found myself in the gaze of a large man with a gun for an arm and a young woman with lovely black hair. The giggling of a child sent chills down my spine. 

“Good afternoon, my name is [insert your name] and I am investigating the disappearance of Jillian Jones.” 

“Disappearance? Lady. We know exactly ‘ere Jillian is!” The large man looked angrier than you could have thought possible from someone. 

“Marleen, can you go to your bedroom?” The woman quietly instructed the small girl who jumped off of the stool and disappeared behind the bar. “Jillian… Did not disappear.” 

This did not bode well. 

“Can you give me any information?” I clicked my pen on the side of my thigh. “Where is she, so I can question her?”

“YOU CAN’T QUESTION A DEAD WOMAN YOU NOISY BITCH!” 

“Barret. Hush.” The woman spoke, her words seeming to calm him down a touch. “They obviously didn’t know. I was told a private investigator would be looking into this case, I suspect it is you?” 

“’ight. Sorry. I just can’t get over the way that…” He clenched his fist visibly over the bar. He looked utterly distraught. “I’m Barret, and this is Tifa, she’s the owner of 7th heaven.” Last names were not documented under the witness protection act. 

“Tell me about what happened.” 

“It might be better if I showed you.” Tifa spoke, “But I hope you aren’t… Squeamish.” This probably was leading into something more than I was being paid to investigate. With that, she led me down a few dark alleys, not even bothering to use an umbrella. Perhaps she was mourning over the loss. 

\-------------------

The house was a crime scene, the front door blocked off by yellow tape. Onlookers whispered behind us as we approached. It did not seem to be guarded, because Shinra probably had no desire to pay their guards to protect a crime scene that may provide evidence of wrongdoing. She ducked under the forest of tape and proceeded to move it over to allow me to pass. The foyer was silent, only the sounds of dripping water provided a heartbeat to the building. On the table, there seemed to be chipped teacups and a dish of… sugar? The kettle was sitting in the middle of the set-up, suggesting the victim was about to have tea before she met her demise. Tifa waited for me to process the information before continuing our tour further. Not much was distinctively notable, save the almost immaculately kept living area. Obviously, this was not a house break-in. It was much too perfect for that.

The bedroom door creaked open. The body was lying in her bed, with a single long gash that split her entire trachea in half leaving blood soaked across the mattress. The wound was so deep, her head would probably snap off if the body was to be moved. Upon noting her body, nothing else seemed injured or damaged, except for the ears which were not where they should have been. In fact, they were replaced by golden chrysanthemums, almost like they were growing out of her cochlea. The body appeared to be in rigor mortis, with every other inch of her left unsoiled. Obviously, some care was put into this operation. Jillian was tucked into the covers and her eyes sealed shut, nothing obvious to incriminate someone for the crime. 

Tifa had left the room long before I noticed her absence. 

“Do you know anything about this?”

She tearfully looked at me and said, “They’re saying… It was Cloud. But I don’t want to believe them. He would never do something so…. So…” She covered her face with her hands. I tried not to stare, but I felt off. 

There is something really bad happening here.


	2. Log 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The relationship between victims is ill defined, more work will need to be done in order to get to the truth.

Log 2

16 September 20XX

I had a strange dream last night. 

I was walking around a well- lit beautifully decorated house/castle, I’m not exactly sure what it was. I was wearing a long gown and my hair was different, longer. I felt like I didn’t belong in the body I was inhabiting. I felt clunky, and almost like I was sloshing through mud. 

“My dear, are you alright?” A hand tugged on my shoulder and it revealed a tall man whose features I could not make out. All I could see was his long hair grazing past his shoulders, no color. He was a literal phantom. “Perhaps you ought to take a seat, you look flustered.” His voice was concerned, although I could derive no further expressions from him.

I remember walking into a bathroom and gazing into the mirror. My face was stitched together like a patchwork doll. I ran my fingers around the cuts from where my mouth was, noting that I could not feel it. It /belonged/ to someone else. My eyes, beautiful as they were, looked at me as if I were a monster. Red, long cross hatches along my face and down each of my arms. Against my better judgement, I moved my hair out of my eyes and felt for my ears. They too, were stitched on. I pulled up my gown and noticed how my left and right legs were slightly different shades, the stitching along my hips was starting to decay. Maggots. I felt maggots crawling under my/the skin I was inhabiting. Panic. I fixed my gaze back onto the mirror and saw worms crawling in the whites of my eyes. I could not scream. 

I took a razor from the cabinet below and jabbed it into my lower eyelid, scraping away at the skin. No blood. No blood. No blood.

All that came out was cotton.  
\------------------

I rose from my bed in a panic, reaching for my face to determine if I was /together/ and whole. Red XIII was quietly watching me from my bed and he looked concerned. 

“You looked like you were going to pull off your own skin.” He said, as if he were trying to get a full range of how my emotions were going to play out. 

“Bad dream.”

He needed no further information as he perched up next to the window and looked at me silently, “Let’s go over the clues we’ve collected thus far.”

“Female body, missing her ears. House was virtually untouched, save for her bedroom in which the murderer sliced her almost completely in half. Her body looked in decent shape other than that.” 

“What do we have in common with the others?”

“All have been females.” It was hard to compare all of them because circumstances were different in each. Victim in sector 6, Karen Elliot, was much older than both Jillian and Jane. While Jane and Karen had been spirited away, the only missing piece of Jillian were her ears. They were all from the sector slums: 5, 6 and 7 numerically. “No relations among any of them, nor did they ever correspond to each other. It was, supposedly, like they were spirited away. Knowing our modus operandi, the other two are most likely dead with body parts stolen.” 

Of course, these were only the females reported as missing or dead. To be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if the number was much higher than this. The murderer wouldn’t touch the plate because they knew they would get caught instantly. Better to stick low in the slums, where we might not even notice several girls disappearing into the abyss. 

“Do you think the monster, or the shadows provide any clues?”

Weird. I hadn’t considered the monster as part of the equation. The crimes took place in some sequential sequence, only once a month edging near the beginning somewhere between the dates of 14th to the 16th of each month. 

“So, I guess we’re looking for a vampire?” I couldn’t help the sarcastic tone in my voice, but perhaps it wasn’t exactly wrong. Shinra was known for more sketchy things than that, and it wouldn’t be odd for them to create Dracula in a lab somewhere. 

“Or a traveler.” Red XIII mused.

Or, indeed, a traveler. Someone who lived on the road who could escape when the situation was right. Clues were something we would need in order finger the real perpetrator. Red XIII would check the surrounding area junkyards, and I would get testimonies from the locals. I went back to the bar to check in with Tifa and Barret and noted that they were not present. I surmised I would be on my own for today.

The streets felt familiar. Nothing had changed about them, and I was the stranger. I heard whispers along the streets including gossip about the Jillian case. Obviously, word gets along quick. The one clue I had received from Tifa was Cloud, the mercenary that came to the slums not too long ago. Travelling mercenary, apparently. I needed more information. 

While deep in thought, I saw a hound dog bound toward me with his owner following. It was Marle, the owner of the hotel I was staying at. She wasn’t one to smile, but I could have sworn I saw one cross her lips when she met eyes with me.  
“[insert name], it’s great to see you again.” She and my mother were friends, shortly before my mother had passed away from illness. She raised me for a spell before I was recruited up on the plate. 

“You too.” Words were weird, almost fake to me. I was so used to using them only to gain information from a nonsuspecting local. “I’m sure you know why I’m here.” 

“Doesn’t take a genius to figure out why a detective would be needed.” We made short conversation about mindless things before moving into the meat of the issue. “What do you want to know about?”

That was a loaded question. “Tell me about Jillian.”

Her eyes glanced down at the dirt road, “She was only a few years older than you. She was a relatively quiet girl who did her job at the inn, no one who knew her would have been able to imagine something this awful happening to her.” Of course not. The scene of the crime was incomprehensible. 

“Did she tell you about any strange dreams she was having?”

“Odd you should mention that. Jillian told me that in a dream, her younger brother came back from beyond and asked her if he could have her ears.” Beyond was definitely a strange way to put that phrase. “He had died in an explosion a few years back. She hadn’t really been able to recover from that.”

“I’m sorry to hear.”

“As we all were when we got the message.” Marle reflected, “If you want my opinion on the matter, I would be happy to provide it.”

“Of course, I would appreciate nothing less.”

“That mercenary didn’t do this. I don’t think Tifa would fall head over heels for a scumbag slitting throats and stealing ears from young women.”

“I still want to talk to him. I can’t rule out anyone just yet…”

“He is a strange cookie though. Just watch out for yourself, okay?” 

Cloud Strife was on the tongue of all the locals in Sector 7. Perhaps it was due to the fact that he was a new face entering their secluded ruin, but this just shone another light entirely on his motives. Jillian… Did she perhaps owe money to someone? Did someone hire him specifically to go to the slums to kill her?

But then why would he steal her ears?

I suspect it was to prove that the deed had been accomplished, but if that was the case, he should have cut off her whole head. Those could have been anyone’s ears. Was he some sort of sexual fiend who found joy in taking prizes from his victims? I would need to investigate his bedroom in the inn to derive more information, especially if it was involving his growing collection of dead girl body parts. 

Marle’s inn was the only inn located in Sector 7, so it wouldn’t be hard to locate where he was sleeping for the evening. Rumors were filled with information, if you could process them adequately. I didn’t particularly enjoy the sentiment of waiting in shadows to see if anyone was entering or exiting the room, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Two hours passed, and the inn was empty, save for some jarring screams coming from the top floor. The only thing I enjoyed about the slums was how easy it was to break the lock of any door. Needless to say, a few bobby pins would do the trick. Jiggling the lock and moving my tool carefully through the hole gave me the click I was looking for, and the door gave way.

The blinds were pulled shut and the room was dark. I pulled out my phone and flashed it in the darkness to see if I could find anything. The room was virtually empty, save for a small knapsack sitting in the corner, slung precariously over the back of a chair. I pulled a pair of cotton gloves from my pocket and took to searching. Materia, notebooks with locations written in blue ink, and a few rations. No photos or anything.

I stopped for a moment when I found an envelope sealed away within the notebook. That was when I heard footsteps. 

Shit.

I jammed the belongings back into the bag and I bent the envelope into my pocket. Logically, I would not be able to escape this room without passing him so I would need to be creative about this solution. Hiding under the bed would be thematic, and therefore improbable. I would be the inn keeper’s assistant. Obviously, this was a flawed transition, but it was better than being caught red handed. I swept the light on and grabbed a plunger from the bathroom and occupied myself with the intricacies of plumbing when the doorknob turned. I heard the footsteps cross the threshold as I shouted from the bathroom, “HOUSEKEEPING!” 

The bathroom door seemed to move in slow motion as I saw him. His eyes were unforgettable with that tinge of electric blue. His blonde hair dirtied with brown, and his face was slightly edged, but soft. It was unnerving, because I couldn’t read his expression. 

“Please don’t enter my room again without permission,” he said calmly, although his expression was neither threatening nor happy. 

“Of course, sir.” It was just then that I realized the plunger was upside down in my hand and I was essentially just shoving the handle into the toilet. 

Shit.

I made my exit as calmly as possible, trying not to seem like I was trying to run out of the room. In the corner of the eye, I saw the largest sword I had ever laid my eyes on. It was polite not to stare. “Have a great afternoon!”

He nodded in response and closed the door.  
\-------  
Curiosity overwhelmed me as I entered my own quarters, finding the envelope badly crinkled in my pocket. 

“Tifa,

Consider this a warning. Your donation would be providing for the greater good.”

No mention of a sender.

Once more, I have a very bad feeling about this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Give me your theories. I wanna hear em.


	3. Log 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I'm not sure what to say about this either. Hope our detective is okay!

Log 3

24th September 20XX

Too much going on. Can’t write for now. I will make a detailed entry shortly.


	4. Log 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yikes.

Log 4

25th September, 20XX

As previously stated, the time between log 2 and 3 and now even 4 should illustrate the state of mind that I am currently experiencing. 

Headaches, dizziness, and sleeplessness, all due in part to the nightmares that have literally been haunting me every time I put my head down on a pillow. Regretfully, they have not improved even with my newly acquired Shinra therapist. 

Tonight’s nightmare was no exception.

Suffocating.

I’m assuming that may be the worst route to go out. Confined in a very small space. The air becoming more and more scarce the longer I’m in there. The tips of my fingers raw from scratching at the top, unable to lift the entrance. My voice long gone, for I was unaware if it still even worked. How long had it been? Two days? A week? Time passed but with no implication it had done so at all. All there was, as far as I could see, was darkness. I think I would have been more at peace if I had faded into oblivion in silence, but his voice was right over me. He’d come over during different time intervals and read poetry. Lord Bryon and various other poetry involving lovers. He ignored every scream, every noise I made in order to tell him I was right under his feet. 

“We will meet again soon, ----------” 

Her name buzzing in my ears shortly before being omitted entirely from my vocabulary. But it wasn’t ‘my’ name. I was bleeding. I was trying to escape every moment I had energy to do so, but always succumbed to the dizziness that took me. It was because there was no more air. I was leaving this world as quickly as I came, only recalling one last thing…

“Thank you for your donation.”   
\--------  
The days between now and then had been a flurry of emotions. Cloud’s mysterious letter sitting on the back of my mind like mold on an apple. Mostly, I couldn’t understand the motive behind the killing/s. Of course, there legitimately could be /no/ motive. Red XIII had glanced over the letter himself, drawing the same blanks as myself. 

“Is he aiming on killing that woman next?” He surmised, and I nodded my head in agreement. “Then we should naturally let the crime play out and catch them in the act.”

“I would rather not have any more deaths. Also, following the pattern of previous murders/kidnappings, we should be okay until October. Days are numbered, so we ought to figure out which hand to play.”

“The best course of action might be to inform her. But if he truly is watching her every move…”

“Then he will know something is amiss.”

“Need to think. I’ll be back shortly.”

As usual, the air in the slums was thick with the scent of plastic and broken machines. The moon shone over the sector as if it were placed up there like a decoration. As if Shinra had blessed these peasants with the luxury of witnessing the glories of the plate above. 

I felt sick.

My gun strapped to my hip as I wandered aimless into the junkyard. Normally guards would be in place, but perhaps they decided that residents were no longer their concern. Which wouldn’t surprise me, because ultimately, they did not really care about the locals. 

I heard something in the rubble that startled me. I held my gun up and waited for a few seconds, just to access my surroundings. A few beasts had come from the outside into the junkyard, and they were eyeing me hungrily. Probably the biggest rats I had ever seen. 

“Bring it.”

I steadied my aim and fired, bullets grazing off of the beasts as they edged closer, they were no strangers to combat. Smarter than they looked too, which gave me a bit of a problem. They had me surrounded, rearing three large ugly heads. If it were a one-on-one match, this would be a piece of cake. I fired another round into the forehead of one, backing myself further into the junk. 

Shit.

I was trying to make an alternative route when I heard the sounds of someone else’s gun from far off. Perhaps one of the guards heard my quandary, not good for Shinra if their star detective gets eaten by a couple of fiends, is it? They weren’t taking that lying down, obviously. But the gun shots were the diversion, I would find out. Because right in front of me stood the mercenary, his strong frame looking over me to check for wounds. 

“Get behind me,” he ordered, and I was stupid if I wasn’t going to follow his directions. His sword was probably bigger, and heavier than I was. I watched as he mowed down those rats in front of him without seeming to break a sweat. It was a bit overwhelming, especially if he was the actual killer. 

“Thanks for the rescue.”

“You have something that belongs to me.” 

SHIT. 

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I feigned ignorance, as I felt his hand grab onto my wrist. 

“You do. Hand it over to me,” his voice was calm and extremely threatening. 

“Tell me what you know, and then I will hand this over to you.” Stupidly, this seemed like the best response to this situation, even though I was ordering around a man with the largest sword I have ever laid eyes on in my life. 

“I could just take it, you know.” And that was directly threatening. 

“Then that would serve as reason enough to convict you of a crime.” I lied. “How did you even know I was out here?”

“A mysterious benefactor decided your life was good enough to spare.” Jarring but okay. 

“Who was it?”

“A cloaked man, seeming to not want his appearance known. I agree to your terms.” He waved you with his hand, indicating that you ought to follow him. At least he seemed human enough to not want to risk an unwanted death on his record. 

I followed him back to the inn and just allowed him to lead the way. Against my better judgement, I presume, because I probably should have created a signal with Red XIII. His room was dark, and he flicked on the lights and pointed to the chair in the corner. I took my seat quietly and gazed up at him with some hesitation, slipping my notebook from my pocket. 

“It was left on Tifa’s bar the other night. I wanted to avoid any conversations with Tifa about it, because she would insist on taking out that creep by herself. I didn’t feel comfortable letting her face someone like that alone.”   
I unfolded the letter and lifted my gaze, “I see,” the words didn’t sound very sincere. 

“You don’t believe me, do you?” Bingo.

“There’s plenty of reasons why you might be lying to me. Obviously, you know I can contact Shinra to arrest you on the spot. But there are too many unanswered questions around this case, and I would like to make it a point to find justice.” Cloud shifted a little in his seat and listened, carefully evaluating my words. His eyes held many /secrets/ and I didn’t feel like I was prepared to enter that situation by myself. “Do you have an alibi?” 

He nodded, letting out a heavy sigh. “But if I told you, I would be admitting to a different crime.”

Yikes. 

“That’s irrelevant.” I spoke, “I am only looking for the killer. I have no interest in any other petty crime you might be responsible for.” I could hear him laughing when I mentioned the word ‘petty’, indicating that this was slightly more serious than a simple traffic violation. 

“We stole a few materials to build a bomb. Went to the plate and broke into a Shinra location to do so. I’d would provide people to confirm my alibi, but I do not want to indicate them in that crime.”

Fair. 

“So, you’re the reason the trains have stopped running. Interesting.” I noted, which may have been reason enough to suspend my suspicion. “And Tifa is aware?”

Cloud looked at me and shook his head. She was probably not associated with Avalanche like he was. Or at least, you suspected of him being. This information would probably provide a bigger income than the capture of the real murderer. Shinra would pay big money for the mercenary, and to be honest, I really didn’t give a rat’s ass for their dirty crimes. Therefore, the terrorist would simply go free and I would simply feign ignorance in the whole ordeal. 

“I’m ignorant about the matter.” I commented, crossing my arms. Cloud was not a man of expressions, but he looked slightly relieved. 

“The letter.” 

“Sure. After you promise to help me catch the perp.” Might as well take advantage of the situation. He shifted once more in his seat and then nodded.

“For a price.”

“Plenty of money in good detective work.” I lied, “But I think I’m going to need someone with some swordplay skills to help. After all, this person… or thing… committing these crimes is probably stronger than a junkyard rat.” We shook hands and I made my way out of the apartment, heading back into my own. My head spun with accusations and honestly, I didn’t want to think much more on the matter.

But I got help.


	5. Log 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kids are scary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ya boy is back at it again. Man this killer is a total asshat.

October 3rd, 20XX

Things have been difficult. Sleep has been getting harder lately and I find myself struggling to get this bad image out of my head. The nightmares continue, each one getting more vivid than the last. I need to solve this case ASAP. 

Although I wasn’t exactly sure why I pinpointed the crime’s date for October, it appeared I was right. I have been watching Tifa closely, and things have been uneventful. This allowed me to soak up some of the pleasures from my childhood, at least in terms of living out life in the slums. It wasn’t that terrible of a place, really. Some things had not changed, such as Marle, who offered me her… rustic cooking every morning. I was thankful, although my face may not have portrayed that sentiment entirely. I had become a regular at 7th Heaven, which apparently gave Tifa the rights to demand my serve in terms of babysitting. Marlene was a very quick-witted child, which honestly gave away the fact that she wasn’t related to Barrett. Often, I found her reading one of the miscellaneous books in her collection. She would struggle with certain words and I would guide her through them to the best of my ability. 

They certainly weren’t novels I’d expect a young child to be browsing through. The one that caught my eye today was a weird graphical depiction of a story in the bible. It showed how God created the earth in seven days, each day following the creation of something new in the universe. I found myself innately curious as I sat down next to her and tried to peer over her shoulder at the words flooding the page. All I saw was the number six, written high on the page with weird graffiti on the side in what appeared to be… red crayon? 

“Marlene, did you draw on this book?” I asked, feeling a bit uncomfortable. 

“No.” She looked introspective, almost like she was thinking about it intensely as well. 

“Where did you get it from?” 

“A ghost.” She muttered, glancing up at me with a small smile. “They said I should give it to Tifa.” I sucked the breath between my teeth and blinked slowly.

“When did this… ghost… give you this book?” 

“This morning. Shortly before I saw you. They said it was extremely important.” My heart stopped for a moment, as merely touching this tomb gave me anxiety I could not place. 

“How did you know it was a ghost?” 

“It looked like Jillian.” She said softly, “Don’t you remember? She went to heaven.” 

“Right.” Right. The ghost of a dead woman gave a little girl an occult book littered in sixes all over the page in childish scribble. “Marlene, why do you think someone scribbled all over these pages?”

She once more sheepishly looked at me and said, “Six is evil. It says so in the bible as well. Humans need to work six days a week. Six is also associated with Satan, who created sins. Six is the day that we will experience tragedy again.”

Ominous. 

Six.

“Are you saying that the sixth of this month we will experience something bad?” With that comment, the young girl nodded her head and pointed to the red scrawl. “Consider this another warning. Your days are numbered.” I had sunk back from the shock of this notice…

“[Y/N], please be careful.” She spoke softly, although her words did not console my nerves. In fact, I felt myself slipping into panic. I gently rested my hand on her head and smiled reluctantly, “I’m fine Marlene, but perhaps we ought to keep that from Tifa. Cloud should take a look though, he’s our mercenary after all.” 

There was no reason to cause her panic if we were planning on never allowing her to be alone. Now that we have a date, it would be easier to assure her safety. Obviously, the killer wants us to know when he/she is going to attack again. He’s not scared of me or Cloud, which implies they know exactly what situation they’re about to walk into. 

I got chills just thinking about it. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
“----------, the banquet is about to begin.” A voice called out to someone, a name I couldn’t connect to anyone. But it appeared that I was once more inheriting the body of whomever possessed the name. It was another dream. “You’re the guest of honor, it is all about your fantastic revival.”

Revival… Like from the dead? For some reason, Marlene’s book flooded back into my head as I thought about six and the implications. What troubled me more was the looming seventh day, which had vast implications as well. Although highly regarded in terms of numerology, it could lead to some scary thoughts. While six was about evil, seven was about completion and promises granted. I glanced down at ----------‘s hands and noticed that once more they are discolored meshes of flesh bonded together with fine stitching. Nothing belonged to me… My body wasn’t even constructed of parts of myself. 

“Come…” His hand grasped my wrist as he took me down the hallway. I couldn’t see anything else about him. There was something that bothered me more than the man tugging at me though… This was supposedly a banquet.

It was absolutely silent, save for our footsteps prattling down the hallway. He seemed to get more aggressive the more I held back, and honestly, I just assumed my hand would come off due to the force he exerted. But it didn’t. What felt like eternity ended with a golden door frame, which he forcefully pushed open. We stepped inside the room and he announced our presence, “good evening my wonderful guests, I present to you ---------------.”

His voice reverberated through the room, as I couldn’t even hear anyone breathing. That’s the thing…

No one was breathing. 

Cast around the table like a gruesome display bodies of young woman. Dozens of them with missing body parts. The woman directly next to the door looked coherent, until I realized her eyeballs had been plucked from her skull. Red, gaping holes pierced me as her smile was haunting enough to freeze hell over. On her left was another young woman, or was a young woman, I could barely tell because all of her skin was ripped off of her skeleton. She sat before me with her red muscles bulging out and blue veins encompassing her like delicately laced ribbons on a gift. 

I couldn’t focus as he pushed me further into the room. Dozens… Hundreds of women’s bodies surrounding me in the great hall. All of them gruesome in their own ways. Some of them were carved up so elegantly the husks of their bodies leaned over the table in such a way that suggested he removed bones from their spines. In fact, one woman was bent in such a way that I assumed she no longer had a spine. 

“We’ve waited so long for the main course, as you can see, everyone starved to death.” The host chuckled on about his ‘joke’, but the silence made everything so much worse. He pulled the cover off of the plate, revealing a blood-soaked plate with a still-beating red heart in the center. “Eat up, [Y/N].” 

He stuck the fork into the pulsing organ and came closer, prying my mouth open with his free hand. “Just take a bite, you don’t want to insult the host, do you?” I struggled with all my might against his powers, but it was too much. 

He was too strong.

“I can’t wait to have you for dinner, too.”   
~~~~~~~~


End file.
